☕ Trophy case

What makes Carbondale, Illinois, so special? [April 07, 2024]( | [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Sea of cloud scenery appears over Shijiazhai Interchange Bridge on March 29, 2024] VCG/VCG via Getty Images  BROWSING  [Classifieds banner image]( The wackiest headlines from the week as they would appear in a Classifieds section. Careers BUG UROLOGIST: Dung beetles might be the king of No. 2, but cicadas are queens of pee. These insects, which are about to swarm parts of the country, are the [strongest]( urinators in the entire animal kingdom. ROBOT RUNWAY COLLIES: A lanky Boston Dynamics robot will [replace]( trained dogs at Fairbanks International Airport to run around and scare birds and wildlife off the tarmac. This calls for an Into the Wild reboot. Personal FOUND—SPACE JUNK: What appears to be a chunk of old batteries from the International Space Station [fell]( from outer space and crashed through someone’s roof in Naples, Florida. NASA collected the piece to confirm it was from the ISS…if not? Alien rock. ISO FANS: The Oakland Athletics will be moving to Sacramento temporarily, but don’t call them the Sacramento A’s. The team’s branding [won’t be affiliated]( with the city, and instead, they’ll just be like tourists or, in some ways, circus performers. MISSING MIRACLE SALMON: When a “fish taxi” carrying 102,000 Chinook salmon smolts overturned in Oregon, disaster loomed. But in a miracle twist, more than 75% of the fish that spilled out from the tanker [made it safely into a nearby creek]( which they’ll use to migrate to the Pacific Ocean. For sale BENNETT BAR SKETCH: Julien’s Auctions is [hosting]( the estate sale of the late iconic jazz singer Tony Bennett. You could snag his 2005 Kennedy Center Honor Award for as little as $5,000. FASHION BRACES: If you want to relive some of your most traumatic high-school days, [noncorrective braces]( as an accessory are really in. Not to be mistaken for grillz or tooth gems, these will absolutely get popcorn stuck in them.—MM  FROM THE CREW Breathe. Pause. Reset. Purchase. [The Crew]( Get ready to find your CFO zen! We're excited to announce that [Nicolette Turner, Headspace's CFO]( will join us in New York on May 2. Nicolette will share how integrating AI, automation, and other emerging technologies affects financial workflows and insights on identifying team skill gaps! As thrilled as we are to have Nicolette share her insights, she's just one of our industry speakers who will dive deep into topics like AI, playbooks, supply chains, and many more. [Grab your ticket now](  SNAPSHOTS  [Image of the week](#) [Data visualization shows where short-term rentals are booked starting this weekend, ahead of Monday's solar eclipse.]GIF showing where short-term rentals are booked ahead of Monday’s solar eclipse. AirDNA This gives new meaning to the term blackout dates: A data visualization from AirDNA shines a light on how many short-term rentals have been booked along the path of totality through Airbnb and Vrbo in the days leading to Monday’s solar eclipse. There are more than 2,300 cities in North America along the path; they have seen a 207% increase in bookings for the event compared to the same week last year, with Indianapolis, Dallas, and Cleveland reporting occupancy rates of 94% or higher as of Thursday.—DL  SCIENCE  [Dept. of Progress](#) [Mushroom joke about fungi]ImgFlip Here are some illuminating scientific discoveries from the week to help you live better and maybe even celebrate your favorite team’s victory responsibly. Do you know why gin tastes like that? Tonic’s best friend has surprisingly loose qualifications compared to some other liquors—it just needs to be at least 37.5% ABV and have that signature juniper taste to qualify as gin. So, four chemists in Scotland set out to “fingerprint” exactly what makes gin, gin, Wired [reported](. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (similar to an MRI), the researchers zoomed in on 16 different gins and identified the chemical compounds responsible for each one’s flavor, smell, and mouthfeel, plus the geographic origin of the juniper berries that went into each sample. Some experts think that establishing a molecular-level framework for great gin could help authentic, high-quality distilleries set themselves apart from the rest. You should be eating like a salmon. Rather than consuming more of the omega-3-rich fish, you can get better health benefits from salmon by copying its diet, according to a new peer-reviewed study. Researchers found that salmon raised on fish farms in Norway had less nutritional value in six out of nine areas than wild salmon, so they recommend going further [down the food chain]( and eating more of the fish that salmon feed on, like sardines, mackerel, and anchovies. These small fries were found to have as much or more nutritional diversity and density as farmed salmon and tend to have less mercury. The truth about sports victory baby booms. Urban legend says that birth rates increase nine months after a big championship win that unites a whole city or country. But an investigation by The Athletic found that this isn’t the rule; [it’s the exception](. For example, Wrexham FC claimed in a recent ad to have caused a 24% spike in births nine months after a triumphant win that secured their promotion to a higher league…but the local hospital didn’t report any more babies than usual. Other research has found many instances of lower birth rates nine months after big sports wins, possibly because of all the communal celebrations, which could cut into intimacy time. Still, there have been some baby booms post-sports success, like after [South Korea]( made it to the 2002 World Cup semifinals.—ML  TOGETHER WITH BLUE CIRCLE FOODS [Blue Circle Foods ]( Sausages made from what? Thanks to the sustainability-minded folks at Blue Circle Foods, you can now [get salmon sausages](. For every pound of salmon Blue Circle produces, they take less than half a pound of fish out of the ocean—now that’s a catch. [Shop 20% off]( with code MORNINGBREW.  NEWS ANALYSIS  [Why Botswana wants you to take its elephants]( [Elephants Botswana]( Corsi/Getty Images Botswana might need to stock up on packaging for the bulky “gift” it wants to send Germany: 20,000 live elephants. The African country expects Germans to enjoy the present as much as your friend who lives in a studio would appreciate receiving a pool table. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi made the [rhetorical offering]( this week as he lashed out at a proposed German ban on trophy elephant imports. Botswana’s government is worried the embargo would encourage poaching and threaten not only any fragile items within an elephant’s path but also the nation’s economic interests. Masisi said in an interview with the German magazine Bild that the enormous animals are a major nuisance to locals—and that heavily regulated hunting is an acceptable way to manage their population. Masisi claims it’s easy to worry about trophy hunting from the comfort of Berlin’s elephantless environment. He recommended Germans try to “live together with the animals” before judging Botswanans, who cohabitate with Africa’s largest elephant population of 131,000—nearly a third of the world’s total. - Locals say that elephants devour crops, trample property, and, in some cases, kill people. - Their numbers swelled after the country banned trophy hunting in 2014, only to repeal the measure five years later in response to complaints from affected communities. Germany isn’t the only concerned country: The UK is mulling its own ban (which prompted Botswana’s president to threaten to send elephants to London’s Hyde Park), and the US issued new regulations last month tightening rules around elephant trophy imports. The heated international trade dispute—and elephant shipping threats—spotlights how the controversial practice of shooting wild animals for sport has a complex web of ramifications. Trophy hunting’s proponents say it’s an economic boon that can help support conservation efforts, while animal rights activists decry it as animal murder by wealthy vacationers. Hunting dollars Germans and other foreigners hunting elephants is a major source of income for Botswana. Hunters pay up to $50,000 for each elephant killed, and Botswana’s government said the practice [brought $5 million]( to local communities in 2021. The business of hunting brings a cash windfall across sub-Saharan Africa, a region known for its rich fauna. Most revenue comes from elephants, lions, rhinos, and other large game you’d expect to see on a safari. Trophy hunters [injected $250 million]( into South Africa’s economy yearly and supported 17,000 jobs, according to one estimate in 2018. In some instances, regulated hunting can actually contribute to protecting endangered species. Proponents say that well-managed hunting programs [provide]( conservation funding and incentives to maintain nature preserves, preventing habitat loss and enhancing biodiversity. Among those who aren’t necessarily troubled by trophy hunting is the World Wildlife Fund, a conservation NGO. It says it’s not opposed to “locally managed, responsible hunting” as long as it doesn’t target endangered species and brings revenue to conservation. Many experts believe that banning the practice would ultimately hurt the people and animals that rely on economic and conservation benefits. In 2019, 128 worried scientists came out against trophy hunting bans and [urged]( the international community to study the evidence and reform hunting instead. Problematic leisure On the other side, organizations concerned about animal suffering claim that the revenue from trophy hunting could be replaced with proceeds from bloodless photo tourism. Some hunting critics also note that the tourist revenues generated by hunting aren’t equally distributed, with rural communities often receiving just a fraction of the financial benefits. Beyond the ethical concerns around trophy hunting in general and various questionable methods employed by some who engage in it, animal rights groups like the Humane Society International say that the economic and conservation benefits are overstated by pro-hunting organizations. Big picture: More research may be needed to sort out trophy hunting’s real impact. Reliable scientific evidence on the topic is limited since much of the research is funded by advocacy groups with strong opinions.—SK  DESTINATIONS  [Place to be: Carbondale, IL, eclipse Superhost](#) [People watch the solar eclipse at Saluki Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University on August 21, 2017 in Carbondale, Illinois]People watch the 2017 eclipse in Carbondale, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images It’s a big world out there. In this section, we’ll teleport you to an interesting location—and hopefully give you travel ideas in the process. If you’re looking for a place that knows how to host a solar eclipse, nobody has more recent experience than the Total Eclipse Crossroads of America. Monday will mark the second time in seven years that Carbondale, Illinois, is in the path of totality for a solar eclipse. It was in the path in 2017, and it’s the biggest city in the US to also be in the path of totality for tomorrow’s eclipse, according to Eclipse2024.org. Some people will never see a total eclipse during their lifetime. But residents in parts of three states—Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky—are lucky enough to experience the ultrarare double-dip of total eclipses within a decade. Carbondale, about a two-hour drive from St. Louis, is best known for being home to Southern Illinois University (Go, Salukis). Anticipating its population of ~26,000 to double when visitors arrive for Monday’s celestial spectacular, it’s putting its unique experience to good use. - The town has temporary campgrounds for people unable to find a hotel or unwilling to pay huge prices for lodging, while Amtrak modified its train schedule for an easier arrival and departure on Monday. - Concerned you won’t be able to go live and rub this in the face of your social media followers? Extra cell phone towers are on the way. SIU and NASA have teamed up to create a festival that runs through Monday and includes a guided eclipse experience at the school’s football stadium. After Monday, Carbondale’s eclipse luck will run out. The next total solar eclipse won’t come to Illinois for another 350 years.—DL  BREW'S BEST  # [Recs] Do you have a recommendation you want to share with Brew readers? Submit your best rec [here]( and it may be featured in next week’s list. Cook: Creamy and spicy butter chicken [meatballs](. Store: To keep your coffee grounds fresh, store them in an airtight [container](. Read: A new novel retells The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from a different [perspective](. Listen: YouTube influencer-turned-pop star Conan Gray has a [new album]( out. Watch: Ripley, a thriller based on The Talented Mr. Ripley, [starring]( Andrew Scott. Reader rec: If you love an itinerary, try this [travel-planning app](. Thanks to Nina from Florida for the suggestion. Boost your finance career: The early enrollment deadline for Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep’s certificate programs is [April 15](. Enroll before then for $200 off tuition + use code MORNINGBREW for an [additional $300 off]( *A message from our sponsor.  COMMUNITY  [Crowd work](#) Last week, we asked: A genie allows you to magically add one room to your house. The room must already exist somewhere in the world, and it can’t be something you’d normally find in a residential space. What room would you add? Here are our favorite responses: - “The main room of Space Mountain where you get on the roller coaster. Comes with a real roller coaster!”—Wisti from Atlanta, GA - “Easy. A Taco Bell innovation lab complete with scientists and tacos, of course.”—Matt from Sunnyside, NY - “The Ed Sullivan Theater, complete with Letterman’s desk and Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band’s stage gear.”—Stan from St. Louis, MO - “The IKEA showroom. A room of rooms is the ultimate room.”—Josh from Bend, OR - “An Erewhon hot bar and tonic bar (employees included, cash register excluded).”—Grace from St. Louis, MO - “NASA Mission Control Center. March Madness viewing at its finest.”—Mason from Dallas, TX - “Arnold’s bedroom from Hey Arnold!”—Kyle from Dallas, TX This week’s question Next Sunday, we’re publishing a special Summer Travel edition, so we have a few Crowd Work questions about your travel plans over the next few months. 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